"[I think it] would have been better for the audience, so that then they can process, 'Oh, [Ted] mourned. He got closure' - and then they'd be happy that [he and Robin] got together. Rather than be like, 'Oh, wait. She died? What? They're together, huh?' And credits. That's what I think was too fast."

Hannigan added that the last episode was around 18 minutes shorter than the initial script they ran through at the table read.

Executive producer Carter Bays previously tweeted: "We only shot one script, but through edit room magic we had two possible outcomes for the series. We chose the ending we chose and we stand by it. But we loved the other version too."